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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Garcia, M. P.

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/10/08

HM 62

SHORT TITLE Honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder Report

SB

ANALYST Williams

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Memorial 62 requests the New Mexico Department of Agriculture and the Cooperative

Extension Service at New Mexico State University to report on the status of the New Mexico

honeybee population and recommendations for response to colony collapse disorder. The report

would be made to the appropriate legislative committee by December 1, 2008.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The bill does not contain an appropriation.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The memorial cites colony collapse disorder has impacted 27 states and more than ¼ of the

nation’s two million four hundred thousand honeybee colonies. The memorial discusses the

importance of honeybees in the food supply. The memorial notes there are fifteen to seventeen

registered commercial beekeepers in New Mexico, but, although there have been “die-offs",

there has not been a laboratory-confirmed case of any disorder resembling colony collapse

disorder in New Mexico.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service:

House Memorial 62 – Page

2

“Beginning in October 2006, some beekeepers began reporting losses of 30-90 percent of their

hives. While colony losses are not unexpected during winter weather, the magnitude of loss

suffered by some beekeepers was highly unusual.

This phenomenon, which currently does not have a recognizable underlying cause, has been

termed "Colony Collapse Disorder" (CCD). The main symptom of CCD is simply no or a low

number of adult honey bees present but with a live queen and no dead honey bees in the hive.

Often there is still honey in the hive, and immature bees (brood) are present.

ARS scientists and others are in the process of carrying out research to discover the cause(s) of

CCD and develop ways for beekeepers to respond to the problem.

Since little is known about the cause(s) of CCD right now, mitigation must be based on

improving general honey bee health and habitat and countering known mortality factors by using

best management practices."

Source:

Questions and Answers: Colony Collapse Disorder,

http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm.docid=15572

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AW/mt